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PawSox's Zink wishes he stayed true to form |
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Friday, 21 August 2009 |
By BRENDAN McGAIR
Sports writer
PAWTUCKET – In many ways, Charlie Zink owes Tim Wakefield a debt of gratitude.
As a preteen growing up in Carmichael, Calif., Zink recalls paying extra attention when Wakefield’s knuckleball grip was flashed on TV during the 1992 National League Championship Series.
“I just thought it was really cool,” reminisced Zink about the buzz generated by Wakefield, at the time a rookie phenom with Pittsburgh. “It’s just been a fascination with (the knuckler) ever since then, as well as trying to perfect and stick with it, no matter how frustrating it’s been. It’s going to take a lot of time.”
Zink will be afforded another opportunity to be in the company of his “idol” when Wakefield makes a rehab start at McCoy Stadium tonight. It isn’t everyday Zink gets up close with a fellow butterfly specialist, let alone watch two take the mound on consecutive nights.
“It’s fun to see them get out and throw,” said Zink, making refernce to Thursday night’s starter for Rochester, R.A. Dickey, also hailed as a knuckleballer. “I don’t get to watch a whole lot of film of myself. To see other people do it, it’s exciting.”
While Zink admits he will enjoy being a fan tonight, don’t expect him to saddle up next to Wakefield and ask for pointers. While certainly enticing, the notion of picking the brain of someone who’s successfully bedazzled hitters into his 40s is what got Zink in trouble long before fluttering a pitch for the PawSox this season.
Zink jumped at the chance to work with Wakefield during spring training while the two were together in big league camp. Zink admits, six months later, that the tactic backfired. In fact Zink wishes he remained faithful to what worked in 2008, a campaign that saw the 29-year-old rack up 14 wins and a 2.84 ERA on his way to being named International League Pitcher of the Year.
Zink began the season with every intention of applying Wakefield’s advice into action. It didn’t take Zink long to realize that fluttering, a la Wakefield, would not serve in his best interest. Putting it mildly, Zink has encountered nothing but rough patches, witnessed by the 5-14 mark and earned run average hovering around six he sports nowadays.
“I needed to stick with what I had done in the past instead of trying to change too much,” admits Zink. “I tried to make too many adjustments after what was successful last year. I’m not sure I needed to change anything as much as I needed to just keep perfecting what I had been doing.
“I’ve changed a lot of things and it’s taken me all year to try and correct it.”
Zink didn’t want to place all his ’09 difficulties on Wakefield, currently on the disabled list with lower back spasms. After all Wakefield isn’t the one, to date, who has hit 25 batters while walking 86 in 122 1/3 innings. Zink has.
Those numbers, however, provide some insight why knuckleball pitchers are generally linked with the weather: unpredictable.
“I shouldn’t have changed anything, but I wanted to impress people instead of doing what I had done to impress them in the first place,” laments Zink. “For some reason I tried something completely different and it’s taken a long time to get back to where I once was.”
Zink, who dating back to May has posted just one win in his last 13 outings, does wish he could follow Wakefield’s approach in one prime area. “Consistency, that’s what it’s all about. I’m not a strikeout pitcher and (the batters) don’t have to hit it hard, and a lot of time they don’t.
“I need to go back and throw strikes,” Zink continued. “I know that sounds easy, but we’re getting there.”
Being an ardent follower of Wakefield as he is, Zink is fully aware Wakefield’s career nearly bottomed out not long after he burst onto the scene. Things looked especially bleak after Wakefield was released by Pittsburgh following a disastrous ’94 campaign (5-15 with a 5.84 ERA in 30 games with Triple-A Buffalo).
Zink is also cognizant that Wakefield was able to piece everything back together and carve out a prosperous career that, at age 43, is still on the move.
“The bright side is that I don’t get as sore as everyone else. Who knows what can happen once I get back to where I once was,” feels Zink. “It’s really encouraging to see what (Wakefield) did after his big year in Pittsburgh and his terrible year (in Buffalo), but it’s a little bit intimidating [to be in Wakefield’s presence] because he’s the guy I want to model my career after.”
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Last Updated ( Monday, 31 August 2009 )
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